Managers at local Marsh stores declined to comment as did representatives from Sitrick and Company, the firm currently handling Marsh’s public relations.

Both Marsh locations in Greater Lafayette are surrounded by other businesses that feed off traffic to the stores, and this closure could impact them.

Kyle Blankenbeckler, a manager at the Rural King at Lafayette Square, said Rural King Is large enough to sustain without traffic from Marsh, but he’s not certain about other businesses in the strip mall.

“People that come to our store come here for a specific reason, but it could definitely impact smaller stores. Anytime you’re in a market like this big businesses are the reason little businesses do well,” Blankenbeckler said.

He added he hopes traffic from Rural King might be enough to sustain these smaller businesses.

Tyler Cotterman, who owns Wright Flower Shop near the West Lafayette Marsh, said he thinks traffic to his store will decline.

“We’ve already seen a decrease because there is no longer a pharmacy at that location. You don’t have as many people going by to pick up prescriptions and swinging by our shop,” Cotterman said.

Big box store vacancies like this can be a drain on the community and surrounding businesses.

Commercial real estate broker Andrew Walgamuth said, however, both of these Marsh spots have potential.

He pointed to Market Square in Lafayette, where a large, vacant space was converted into climate controlled storage. Something like that might be a possibility for the Lafayette Marsh building.

The Marsh location on Sagamore Parkway in West Lafayette is a valuable piece of real estate, Walgamuth continued, and could easily get picked up by a developer.

“That space is such a prime location it could warrant bringing the entire building down and doing something that is better,” Walgamuth said.

Kelly Good, an architect who owns KJG Architecture Inc. in front of the West Lafayette Marsh, said he hopes another large box retailer, hopefully a grocery store, will occupy that space.

“It needs an update; nothing has been done to it for a long time. An updated look would attract new customers,” Good said.

Cotterman added he would like to see a high end grocery come into the space.

“I think a high end grocery would be a great option, whether it’s a Fresh Thyme or Trader Joe’s,” Cotterman said.